Artificial bait.



W. T. JEFFERSON.

ARTIFICIAL BAIT.

APPLICATION PIL'EIJ MAY 25, 1910.

Patented June 13, 1911.

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I UNITED STATES A NT-OFFICE. wnn nm '1'. mmfi m'mmfiom' Specification oat Letters Patent. Patented June 13, 1911-, Application filed Kay 25, 1910, Serial Kc. 563,372.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that Lwmm-m T..Jnrwnnson, a citizen of the United States, residing in Evanston, in the county of Cook, in the State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful I-mrovements in Artificial Bait,

of which the is a specification.

The inventionrelates to anartifici-al bait i for fishing, and which is adapted to be used as a bait r casting or for trolling,

Artificial baits of all classes are commonly colored in imitation of the natural bai-t which they are made to represent, and after such baitsliave been inuse the coloring material waists, due tonumerous causes, rendering the bait unattractive as a lure, and therefore practically useless for the purposes intended.

One of the-primary obyects, therefore, of

my invention, is to roavzide an artificial bait wherein substantial y the entire body portion thereof is capable of being quickly and easilyremoved for the substitution of a new thereof, for the reason that the hooks catch" upon weeda-logs, or other, obstacles, in the water.

Another object of my invention, therefore, is to conceal and guard the hooks.

Still another feature of the invention is to so construct the artificial bait that the same will be durable and eflicient in accomplishin the purposes intended.

To these and analogous ends, the invention embraces a rigid, or semi-rigid portion, referably the head, to which the frame "0 the bait is secured, and in the referred. construction, the frame is forms by the hook, or hooks themselves. with a body material adapted to be drawn over the frame and re-' movably secured to the rigid portion. 7

The covering, or body, of the bait consists, in the preferred form, of a thin material capable of expanded, such as thin rubber.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the artificial bait'in the forms of a minnow,

- or small fish, and frog; but of course it is obviousfthat' the principles of the invention,

as herein set forth, may be embodied in forms simulating other "kinds of bait.

' Figure 1 is an elevational view of the head scribed. 1

r" 'd portion with the framework at- F1- .21s a view in side elevation of.

tion of the head benig provided with. a suit- 1 ablebead (6), for a purpose hereinafter de- In thifixreferred form of construction hooks '9 are used, which also constitute the framework for supporting the body cover; the shank of the hook (7 extending through the head of the fish and terminating in an eye (8),. to which the line may be. secured; the barbed point thereof being upturned and forming the back-bone support for the cover.

The hook (9') is somewhat longer than the hook (7)1, and} has one end inserted within the head, of the fish, or otherwise suitably sethroughthe eye (11) at the end of the hook. The curved or barbed end of the hook (9) is turned downwardly; the shank of the hook being long enough so thatthecunved end thereof acts as a support for the body cover at the root of the tail. i

If desired, the hooks (7 and (9%] ma come in contact with each other and e so dered together at point 11, to give rigidity and greater durability to the structure.

The body member, or cover 12, consists of a light flexible material, preferably thin rubber, in the form of a tube, having a taperin and closed end (13) to which a tail (14? may be secured, or the tail may be formed integral with the cover, if so desired.

In the form herein shown, the tail is composed of exceedingly thin rubber, and in use the trembling or waving motion of the tail of a live bait is very. closely imitated. This to firmly secure. the body cover to the head.

The body cover isappli'ed to the frame work by inserting the. curved ends of the books cured thereto, such as by driving a pin- (10) (T and 9) therein and drawing the cover toward the head until the closed end of the cover stops against the curved end of the hook (9), whereupon by slightly stretching the cover the contracted throat end thereof may be drawn over the bead (6).

It is of coursereadily understood that in the construction, as described, the covering is of such light material and the points of the hooks are so arranged within the same that when a fish strikes or bites the bait, the sharp points of the hook will easily puncture and pass through the light covering, and hook the fish with the same efiiciency as if the points of the hooks were at all times exposed.

In the form of construction, such as shown in Fig. 3, suitable apertures (17) may be formed in the covering adjacent the pointed ends of the hooks, which points, however,

lie beneath the covering; the purpose of such openings being only to allow the prong ends of the hooks to more readily pass through the covering. I deem this unnecessary where a light form of covering is used, such as I prefer.

It will be seen that in the construction shown, if the covering is damaged, a new covering may easily and readily be applied.

In Figs. 4 and 5 I have shown a modified construction in which the bait is made to simulate a frog. In this construction, as in that previously described, there is a rigid head portion, 5', to which are suitably attached a series of hooks, (18, 19 and 20). The two hooks 18 and 19 have relatively long shanks suitably shaped to form skeleton frames for those portions of the bait which simulate the hind legs of the frog, while the hook 20 is made shorter and lies concealed within the body portion of the bait. Over the skeleton frame thus formed, is stretched'a cover, 12, which approximately simulates the body of a frog; the front end of this cover being secured to the head, substantially as in the previously described construction.

As hereinbefore intimated, I wish it distinctly understood that I do not limit myself to the precise detail of construction herein shown, as it is obvious that more than three hooks, and even a single hook, might be employed without departing from the spirit of my invention, and therefore, without confining myself to the particular details of construction herein shown,

I claim:

An artificial bait comprising a head and framework consisting of hooks rigidly secured to said head and arranged to give the form of the body of the bait, and a cover of thin, flexible material adapted tobe drawn over said hooks, so as to conceal the ends of the same, and apertures in said cover adjacent the pointed ends of the hooks, the ends of said hooks lying within, the cover and fins adjacent said apertures and between said apertures and the head of the bait.

WILLIAM T. J EFFERSON Witnesses:

EMILIE Rosa, ALBERT H. GRAVES. 

